Screen Printing on Plywood

In the quest of expanding on some recent techniques I learned at Highpoint Center for Printmaking, I've been wanting to go beyond printing on paper and work with materials that are a bit more architectural - like plywood! Interestingly enough, the one thing that I have noticed is that despite the material and thickness differences, printing on wood actually behaves quite similar to paper with the added bonus of the wood grain as a part of the piece. 

Still using the Iceland image, since it was already burned, the top image shows a watercolor print, the second down is a graphite print, and last but not least is an opaque print. Most of the plywood (with the exception of stray unknown pieces) that I've been printing on is Baltic Birch. 

Unleashing my inner hidden woodworker, I made one sample panel for a more involved four screen print with the help of my fathers tools and his garage. First we took two pieces of plywood and cut them down to size, with the flat side for screen printing, and the frame side meant to sit flat against the wall and accommodate the hanging hardware. Next we glued them together with standard interior grade elmer's wood glue.  They dried overnight, and the next morning we planed down the edges so they aligned flat. The final step involved taking the rough piece to a wood worker with a router or table saw.  The ply's in plywood are one of the inherent characteristics that show how it is constructed, so I wanted to have the edges of the piece beveled, exposing the ply's like a reverse frame. 

Lessons Learned:

01. To avoid an excessive amount of planing, cut the two pieces of plywood at the same time

02. Don't shop at Home Depot or Menard's.  Finding quality plywood there is impossible. Go to a specialty wood store.

Time to expose the screens!

Iceland Sketchbook

All ready (at least the sketchbook is ready) for the Iceland trip.

I searched through pretty much every sketchbook at Wet Paint to find one that both had suitable watercolor sketching paper, but also a good printable cover and came up with this Hand Book sketchbook by global art materials. Not perfect, but pretty close for now. My ideal sketchbook would allow for flat full spreads (which this one does), have hot pressed watercolor paper (can't find a single sketchbook that has this), and have a good screen printable cover (which this has).  I'll admit the linen cover made me a bit nervous, but after securing the book in place and four passes of ink, the image still came out quite clear.

No new sketchbook would be complete without color guides! Admittedly, in addition to the new sketchbook I also purchased a set of 12 Holbein Watercolors, which I am planning on taking with. Thus, doing double duty, this also made for a good reason to test out mixing some colors, and trying out the paper in this book.

Back at screen printing, here is a quick run-down of the process... Above is the vector silhouette of the country of Iceland that I drew in Adobe Illustrator, printed on acetate film, and exposed.

With a fully exposed, washed, and dried screen and this set up I was ready to print. 

Because of the thickness of the sketchbook, and the normal depth that using clamps allows, we added an extra piece of wood between the table and where the clamps are attached.  Of course, then a bit more support is also needed for the bottom of the screen as well. I only had one chance to get this print "right," otherwise I'd have to buy another sketchbook, so I taped down some guides to hold the book in place while I pressed the ink through the screen. Since it took four passes to get the complete image, it's a good thing the book stayed in place!

Bell Museum with Metro Sketchers

Back at the Bell.  With too much to catch up on at home I wasn't able to stay too long (perhaps a good thing for practicing sketching on site), but was able to hatch out portraits of these Dall's Sheep. As I was sketching away, immersed in my own world a museum-goer made the comment, "it must be easier since they are standing still."  With a quick laugh and a "yes, of course" on my part she moved on.  Though we have yet to see a Dall Sheep on a backpacking trip (they reside in the high mountain ranges from British Columbia to the arctic) we have quite often come across the shy big horned sheep.  Their sense of sound must be significantly more attuned than ours as we spot them 500+ feet away and they quickly scamper on and out of our sight.  Yes, I could never sketch these animals in real life ("now hold still, turn to the right, and put one hoof forward"), but sketching this museum is a nice close second.  Though if any wild animals would like to sit and look pretty for a sketching session, I am of course in! 

Rock Island State Park

Summer is here? Well, at least the summer weekend getaway part has officially started. This Memorial Day weekend we spent three days camping on Rock Island, off the tip of Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin. It's interesting how two islands so close to each other can be quite different when it comes to weather... Washington Island was green and booming with signs of Spring, yet on the 15 minute boat ride to Rock Island we felt the temperature drop immediately and green leaves had not quite started budding on the trees. We were very lucky to have three gorgeous days camping on the island, despite the cold and windy mornings and evenings, the days were sunny and calm as we went about exploring the island.

The sketch above is of the iconic boathouse that greats you as you dock on the island. Much of the Islands history and structures owe their existence to a wealthy Icelandic inventor/settler who lived in Wisconsin and used this island as a retreat. With the exception of the roof, the boathouse is made from materials derived from the island itself. Quite impressive given the small scale of the island.  

In support of Wet Paint's summer travel sketch postcard initiative, the above sketch was sent to them for a window display. 

Waking up in the morning is always my favorite. With few people up, it's almost like having the island to yourself, if only for a few moments.  Our campsite was right next to a white rock beach where I drank my coffee, enjoyed the sound of the waves lapping ashore, and sketched a bit of our surroundings.

"Alternative" Screen Printing Methods

About a weekend ago I had the chance to take a class on "Alternative Screen Printing methods at Highpoint Center for Printmaking taught by the talented Drew Peterson.  I have to admit that I immediately signed up for this class as it brought back memories of those fun days in thesis hanging out in the print studios and playing around with different print media and my screen. And in one short weekend I learned a lot...

New materials! Including graphite (used directly on the screen), Carbon Black (acrylic painted on acetate and then burned to screen), and Screen Drawing Fluid/Screen Filler.

Normally I tend to be a bit more pre-meditated and composed with my images, but most of what we experimented with was completely free-form - so a free form weekend it was!

Below are a few of the images I created using 2, or a combination of all of the options above.

From left to right... 1. graphite, black acrylic from acetate transfer, and water color via screen drawing fluid 2. Same as the first, but with the first pass of graphite 3. Black acrylic from acetate transfer, and water color via screen drawing fluid 4. Graphite and watercolor (from burned black acrylic acetate transfer.) and 5. Watercolor on watercolor.

The interesting thing about working with the graphite was that it got lighter with more passes on new paper (obviously), but some parts didn't transfer at first, and by the last piece, they transferred quite dark while everything else transferred light.

Free form graphite passes on the drying rack. Notice the difference from right to left as far as what pushed through the screen and what was already been used up.

For a closer look at using watercolor directly on a screen, on the first day I did some free form drawing directly on the screen.  My understanding is that you can use anything that is water-soluble including watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and traditional watercolor.  You never know ahead of time exactly how it will turn out, so it's always a surprise:)

This first one is a more traditional "old school" architectural illustration with both watercolor and graphite drawn on the screen (separate screens), and the second is completely random - just getting back into the swing of things!

Mill City Museum with MetroSketchers

Finally... a gorgeous day to sketch outside! Today's sketch-outing was at the Mill City Museum - a must see for any visitor to the city (and this native sadly admits that she has not actually been inside...).  Case and point - sidetracked by the beautiful weather outside and the old mill foundations along the river make for finding a quiet peaceful place. The other motive for sketching outside was that inside we could only use pencils. So we (Claire and myself) found a few nice stones down by the river to sit down and sketch on.

A few months ago (about six I think) I purchased a small sketch pad of hot press water color paper as a test because as much as I love the "tooth" on my Moleskines, I wanted to try something smoother. And per usual, it sat on the shelf unused because I was too accustomed to other materials. I'm not sure if something in me snapped as I walked out the door this morning, but curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed the unused hot press pad. Needless to say, I do believe I am quite happy with the results... nice blending with the watercolors, and a smooth paper that does not distract from the image.

Right before the watercolor is added.

 

Everybody's sketchbooks all lined up:) Great inspiration!

Dave's Brewfarm

With the weather warming up we decided to make one of our token trips out to Dave's Brewfarm. We make the 1hr. pilgrimage a few times a year and find our visits to be like hanging out with a family member who has their own farm. Dave's beer is quite delicious and never ceases to impress us on each visit with his ever changing highly, creative menu. While I can't comment on the intricacies of the beer (I'll leave that to my husband), what I can note is perhaps the new found purpose of designated driver in return for sketching time. With so many new breweries popping up I can imagine this becoming a welcome compromise.

Union Depot - With MetroSketchers

So I've been secretly dying to check this place out ever since it was remodeled (I was also secretly dying to check it out before it was remodeled... urban spelunking anyone?). It's amazing to see a place not only go through such an involved remodeling effort, but come back to life in the original use it was intended for. Right now is a great time for sketching as it is open public space, and the light rail that will connect St. Paul and Minneapolis (finally) is not quite up and running yet.  Even with hoards of people though, I'm sure we'd still find a way to sketch.

The beautifully remodeled waiting room

 

One of my favorite parts of the gathering - sharing our sketches

 

 

Saint Paul above from the private rooftop deck for depot residents

 

 

 

Irving Park

 

 

Finally - the first really warm day when you can actually sit outside and not want to leave within 5 minutes because you are cold! In celebration we headed down to Irving Park for a sketching session. I often forget about this one, it's just a little bit further than my usual walking routes, it's tucked in a historic neighborhood, and it's simple and quite small. Being spring, everything was still brown and grey, so we'll definitely have to come back here in the summer.  The park itself is quite a popular place for weddings in the summer surrounded by well preserved historic houses, the park also serves as the namesake for the neighborhood. As tempting as it is sometimes to draw those historic houses, I settled on the fountain center piece this time.

 

As a side note, I'm practicing trying to draw quicker - Look, no ruler!

 

 

St. Paul Conservatory with MetroSketchers

Wow! Sketching at the St. Paul Conservatory this afternoon was absolutely amazing. This annual event marked the third anniversary of the Metrosketchers, as well as an up and coming spot on channel 11 news (next Sunday) and a wonderful afternoon with my dear friend Claire, and fellow lady-architect sketcher.

The afternoon was filled with a series of firsts.  For myself, that has been the most public and crowded place that I have openly sketched in.  For Claire, this was her first commission!  As I tend to sketch nature and spaces, Claire loves to sketch inspiring people.  After chatting with a mom with her baby daughter for a bit, she quickly offered to draw a sketch of the baby as practice. Check out this picture of them together:

And of course, us and our finished sketches!

 

And it goes without saying, a huge thanks to the dedication of Liz Carlson a Tim Jennan for all the time, dedication, and passion they put into this to bring us all together. 

Winter Weekends at Indeed Brewing

All of these long winter days has lead us to find and explore outlets that get us out of the apartment. With my husband looking at starting a brewery and my pending Architecture Registration Exams we've taken to a form of "hanging out" at local breweries.  More than just enjoying a handcrafted beverage, he gets to try any amount of any beer he wants (usually while chatting with other beer fanatics), whilst I, as a designated sober cab, get to enjoy the opportunity to sketch this trend. With all the new local breweries popping up it's quite a challenge to catch them all!

In architectural drawing there's a constant argument over how to represent people. Should they be shown "hyper-realistic," do they distract from the space, or add to it? Should they be shown as implied, such that the focus is on the building.  Every architect has their own (widely varying) opinion on this. Urban sketching by contrast focuses on drawing on site and capturing the moment as you see it.  In this case I hope I've captured a semblance of both - that is drawing on location and on the spot, but influenced by the desire to find this balance between architectural space and the people who inhabit it.

Audubon at the Bell Museum

 

Wow, after a few months of being holed up studying, having a weekend to actually do something fun was amazing.  Ever so conveniently for myself, this coincided with a Metro Sketchers gathering at the Bell Museum to sketch the second part of the Audubon exhibition. If you're familiar with nature illustration, then you're familiar with the work of John James Audubon, famous for his sketches of birds. Which brings me to an interesting observation of his work that I chose to draw - I omitted the birds. A crime?  I'll pass this one off as artistic license.  While I admire the work of Audubon greatly, in this piece I was more struck by the dramatic landscape then the large birds originally drawn in (one on top of each cliff).  The birds in flight were added later in order to help lead the eye through the rocks.